Mushroom ragù.

Most mushroom ragù recipes end up as a brown sauce with mushroom flavour, because the mushrooms have dissolved. Cyclocybe aegerita — pioppino, black poplar mushroom — does not do that: the long pale stems stay firm through hours of liquid, so the finished dish has structure.

Brown everything hard before any liquid goes in. That is where the flavour comes from, and there is no shortcut for it.

What you need

Mushrooms

• 1½ lb pioppino, clusters separated
• 4 oz dried shiitake or porcini, rehydrated (keep the liquid)
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Base

• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 carrots, finely diced
• 2 celery sticks, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato purée

Braise

• 1 cup red wine
• 1 can (14 oz) chopped tomatoes
• 1½ cups mushroom soaking liquid, strained
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• Salt, pepper

To serve

• Pappardelle or polenta
• Parmesan, grated
• Olive oil

Method

1. Rehydrate the dried mushrooms in hot water 30 minutes. Strain and reserve the liquid — it is the backbone of the sauce. Chop the rehydrated mushrooms finely.
2. Dry-sear the pioppino in batches in a hot heavy pot, 4 minutes each without stirring, until well browned. Remove and set aside.
3. Soffritto: oil into the pot, then onion, carrot and celery. Cook 12–15 minutes over medium heat until genuinely soft and beginning to colour. This slow start is what makes the sauce taste finished.
4. Garlic and tomato purée for 2 minutes, stirring, until the purée darkens.
5. Deglaze with the red wine, scraping the base, and reduce by half.
6. Return the mushrooms, add the tomatoes, soaking liquid, herbs and soy sauce. Bring to a simmer.
7. Braise 75–90 minutes, partly covered, stirring occasionally. It should thicken and darken considerably.
8. Season at the end and serve over pappardelle or soft polenta with parmesan.

Two kinds of mushroom, on purpose

The fresh pioppino gives you texture and the dried mushrooms give you depth — plus the soaking liquid, which is a more concentrated stock than anything you could make in the time. Skipping the dried component gives you a noticeably thinner sauce. See rehydrating dried mushrooms for the method.

A tablespoon of soy sauce is not authentic and it is not negotiable. Without meat, the sauce needs the glutamate, and nobody can taste it in the finished dish.

It freezes properly

Double the batch. This is one of the few mushroom dishes that is arguably better on day two and freezes for three months without losing anything. Freeze flat in bags for fast thawing.

Species substitutions

Blue oyster works but breaks down more — expect a smoother sauce. King trumpet shredded is excellent and firmest of all. Maitake is too good for this; roast it instead. Shiitake pushes it savoury and dark, which is a fine variation.

Common questions